Shortage of bus drivers could force Manatee County Area Transit to drop routes

MANATEE -- With shortages in the number of Manatee County Area Transit bus drivers, routes have been prioritized to determine which would be shut down first if there is not enough staff to operate the buses.

The county has already had to turn to supervisors to drive some routes.

"Transit is bleeding to death," Ron Schulhofer, the county's public works director, told commissioners Tuesday. "That's not a way to run a transit system. ... It's every day whether we are going to make that pull out or not. Every day. So if you hear someone say, 'Hey, the bus didn't show up today,' it is possible. We are worried about that."

Most transit systems have between 15 and 20 percent of their drivers available to cover leaves, vacations, sick days and appointments, but Manatee County doesn't, Schulhofer said.

"On average, we have one person on standby," he said. "We should have 16. We should be buying 16 more drivers. ... This is real."

One of the reasons the county has been unable to fill vacancies created by retirements and resignations is the low pay in Manatee County compared to surrounding counties, Schulhofer said.

"We've got to do something with this pay," he said. "For 30 minutes up the road, you can make $18,000 more a year in 4 1/2 years. We have fished this pool out. We have got to do something different."

The MCAT staffing shortages were discussed as the commission continued its discussion on proposed fare hikes for paratransit services, from $2 to $3. The proposed increase, which nobody from the public spoke about, will come before

the commission for approval at a future meeting.

"People do depend on this paratransit so we do have to keep paratransit whole," Commissioner Betsy Benac said. "We are keeping up with the growth. ... People have asked us to do it. The majority said they are willing to pay more to be able to have service."

While some Handy Bus riders spoke against the proposed increase at a January meeting, a phone survey of 350 Handy Bus users showed that 59 percent supported the increase.

Commissioner Carol Whitmore reiterated Tuesday that she will not support an increase to paratransit fares.

"These are the citizens, the group of citizens in our community, that truly, truly can't afford it," she said.

The increase would generate an additional $80,000 in revenue to fund two more Handy Bus operators.

"We are currently the lowest in terms of paratransit fare," said Bill Steele, the county's transit division manager.

While Schulhofer spoke about the staffing issues in MCAT, pay compression is an issue in the county's overall workforce, County Administrator Ed Hunzeker said.

"This is an issue across the workforce of Manatee County government," Hunzeker said. "We need to look across the entire organization."

Claire Aronson, Manatee County reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7024. Follow her on Twitter @Claire_Aronson.

This story was originally published April 19, 2016 at 11:16 PM with the headline "Shortage of bus drivers could force Manatee County Area Transit to drop routes."